


at all costs

by encanta



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Gen, Winston's not buying anything that Hannibal's selling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-07
Updated: 2014-03-07
Packaged: 2018-01-14 23:14:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1282291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/encanta/pseuds/encanta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Winston knows that Hannibal is a predator far out of his league. He also knows he'll give his life to protect Will Graham.</p>
            </blockquote>





	at all costs

**Author's Note:**

> If you recall, Hannibal easily cows animals into submission by just being Hannibal. Not Winston, though.

The first time the strange man comes into the house, the smell he brings is so sickening Winston hardly knows how Will can stand it. When it’s clear that the man isn’t leaving, he gives a low, warning whine in Hannibal’s direction. _There’s danger here_ , it says, but that’s all. Maybe if Will’s not worried, there’s a reason why. Maybe he doesn’t have to be worried either.

Winston worries anyway.

He always makes it a point to stay close by his human as often as he’s allowed, but now he literally doesn’t leave his side, flank pressed close to Will’s leg as they pad down the foyer into the kitchen, Hannibal in tow.

“Winston,” Will laughs more than once, reaching down to pat him each time. His human never pushes him away, no matter if he’s getting underfoot. This life is so different from the last.

When the man finally leaves, he takes the smell with him. Winston finally relaxes.

**

The smell gets worse each time he visits. Sometimes, Will even brings it home with him, which makes Winston crazy. It’s all he can do not to roll across him, rub his own scent off on him, and sometimes he’ll spend minutes licking him to make sure the smell is gone. There’s a bad thing happening here, he’s sure of it. He’s just not sure what to do.

**

Something is happening to his human. He often seems distant. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, he’ll go places and leave them alone for hours. One night Winston finds Will on the roof, standing too close to the edge. He barks even after it hurts, until he finally comes back inside. The bad smell is everywhere. Maybe Will can finally smell it, too.

**

It’s a cool Wolf Trap night and Winston’s curled at the foot of Will’s bed, sleeping lightly, when he smells the bad smell before the creak of footsteps on the old wood floorboards even hits his ears. Blinking his eyes open, he waits and watches as the bedroom door opens slowly. Hannibal fills the doorway and he seems bigger than before.

In another situation, a solo survival mission maybe, Winston would lean heavily on the flight right about now. Everything about the man’s body is aggressive, alpha, and the smell is overpowering. Instead, even as Hannibal lifts a silencing finger to his lips, he climbs to his feet and pins his ears back, a clear warning. It’s night time and his human is sleeping soundly, for once. There isn’t a reason for the bad man to be over. He needs to leave now.

He doesn’t leave. Instead, he comes even closer.

Winston knows that Hannibal is a predator far out of his league, has known for a while now, and he doesn’t know how his human can’t see it. That doesn’t matter, though. His human never pushes him away, even when he’s getting underfoot, and Winston knows he will unequivocally give his life to protect Will Graham.

Hannibal’s step forward has the dog growling in a way he’s never growled before in his life. There’s fear in this growl, yes, but there’s also a clear message: _I will protect him, no matter the cost_.

It’s a large effort to look aggressive when he spends most of his time trying to bowl his human over and smother him with licks. Winston manages. He juts his paws out in front of him on the bed, stomach pressed to the mattress, haunches lifted up in a stance that lets this enemy know he’s ready to fight. His growl deepens and he bares his teeth, and he thinks the bad man might look surprised.

As it is, it seems to be … working. Hannibal considers him, then considers Will. He’s halfway between the door and the bed and after another couple seconds, he finally begins retreating. If Winston’s relieved, nothing in his body language gives it away. Once Hannibal’s out of the bedroom, he jumps down off the bed and growls him all the way to the front door, ears still pinned flat to his head.

Hannibal’s out on the porch now, but he pauses with his hand on the doorknob, causing Winston to tense again.

“Good dog,” he says finally, sounding amused. Neither his tone or the smile on his face align with the aggressiveness Winston can still feel, and it confuses him. Thankfully, he’s left to ponder that on his own, because Hannibal reaches around and locks their front door from the inside before pulling it quietly shut.

Winston stands alert on the mat just inside the door for what feels like an hour before he’s satisfied that the man isn’t coming back tonight. It hurts from growling and he’s feeling wild from the encounter, but he sets that aside and bounds back into Will’s bedroom.

His human is still blessedly asleep when he gets back, turned on his other side, a hand jammed under his cheek. He climbs up onto the bed again and snuffles against Will’s neck before turning around once, twice, and laying down curled right up close to his human.

Will’s face is slack and peaceful in his sleep. He’s blissfully unaware of the danger they were just in.

That’s alright, though. Will has Winston.

And Winston will keep him safe.


End file.
